Nagi Bioscience
SydLab One is Nagi Bioscience's automated benchtop platform testing compounds on C. elegans in microfluidic chips, paired with an AI suite that segments images in real time and quantifies 30+ biomarkers per organism for longevity and toxicology labs.
What is Nagi Bioscience?
SydLab One is a fully automated benchtop platform from Nagi Bioscience SA, a Swiss biotool company spun off from EPFL, incorporated in January 2019 and based at the EPFL Innovation Park in Saint-Sulpice. Commercially launched at the end of Q1 2023, it runs compound and gene-function studies on the nematode C. elegans, described by the company as in vivo testing at the in vitro scale.
The hardware rests on a patented Organism-on-Chip technology: Microfluidic Worm Matrices using passive hydrodynamics and worm valves. Each chip carries 16 fluidic lines, so 16 independent biological conditions, across 128 micro-chambers holding one to four animals each. The instrument runs four chips in parallel, giving 64 independent conditions and more than 1,500 organisms; the product page advertises experiments on over 1,000 organisms simultaneously, with N=20-30 per condition. Culture, feeding, RNAi and compound treatment, temperature shifts, and brightfield and fluorescence imaging all proceed without manual handling.
The AI sits in the readout. Images are transferred, segmented and analysed in real time on the Cloud, and deep learning extracts more than 30 features per time point and per organism, advertised as AI-based analysis of over 30 datapoints per hour per organism. The SydLab Analyzer suite adds an experiment launcher, a high-content extraction algorithm and real-time analysis software with phenotypic fingerprinting. Three assay modules build on it: Nagi C-Age for high-throughput lifespan and motility, Nagi B-Age, which scores biological age with an AI algorithm over 20+ proprietary phenotypic biomarkers and five vital traits (Motility, Posture, Appearance, Reproduction, Growth) in ten days, and Nagi DART for developmental and reproductive toxicity, returning NOAEL and progeny endpoints in five days.
Nagi positions the platform among New Approach Methodologies, as a 3R-aligned alternative to vertebrate testing, with seven days average time to result and a claimed speed-up of up to forty times. Two access routes exist: buying the platform for your own site, or commissioning Contract Research Services at Nagi. Around 20 teams in 10 countries use it, backed by 30+ publications. It was founded by Dr Matteo Cornaglia, CEO and inventor of the microfluidic technology, and Dr Laurent Mouchiroud, CSO and C. elegans aging biologist.
What it does
- Confine and synchronise C. elegans populations inside patented microfluidic chips
- Automate feeding, RNA interference and compound treatment, and temperature changes
- Image the organisms continuously in brightfield and in fluorescence
- Extract 30+ features per time point and per organism through deep learning
- Quantify lifespan, healthspan, biological age and mode of action
- Monitor the running experiment in real time from the interface
- Produce datasets for publication, intellectual property and downstream screening stages
When to use Nagi Bioscience / When not to
A quick filter to help you decide if Nagi Bioscience is the right fit.
When to use Nagi Bioscience
- Longevity and healthy-aging R&D teams that need to de-risk compounds in a living organism before committing to vertebrate studies.
- Academic laboratories working on aging biology, including groups with no prior C. elegans expertise, since the workflow is end-to-end automated and training is provided.
- Nutrition and nutraceutical companies building experimental support for health claims, on ingredients, probiotics or gut health.
- Toxicologists who need developmental and reproductive toxicity data, with NOAEL and progeny endpoints returned in five days.
- Teams moving to New Approach Methodologies to reduce vertebrate testing under the 3Rs principle, joining the 20 teams in 10 countries already using the platform.
When not to use Nagi Bioscience
- Teams looking for a standalone, self-serve software product: the SydLab Analyzer suite ships with a benchtop instrument and its consumables, and there is no free plan or open trial.
- Laboratories working on human cells, organoids or rodent models, since C. elegans is the only biological model supported.
- Researchers who need answers to human clinical questions directly: the platform delivers preclinical invertebrate data whose translational value is claimed by the vendor.
- Developers who want to drive the analysis from their own pipeline: no public API and no API documentation are published anywhere on the site.
- Organisations that need a budget or open technical documentation before a sales conversation: pricing is quote-only, manuals sit behind the Nagi Users Hub login, and there is no mobile application.
How to use Nagi Bioscience
A typical end-to-end flow, from setup to results.
- Contact Nagi Bioscience through the contact form, or book a live demonstration via the Calendly link on the platform page, and describe the scientific question you want to address.
- Choose an access route: install SydLab One in your own laboratory, join the Discovery Pack, or commission Nagi's Contract Research Services.
- Discovery Pack route: spend two days at the Saint-Sulpice site, where the six-step workflow scopes the need, sets the scientific strategy, prepares the experiment, guides the run with training, collects the data automatically and reviews the results with you.
- On-site platform route: acquire the instrument, install it on the bench, and order consumables, Nagi Chip L1-Sync for a larval L1 start or Nagi Chip L4-Sync for an adult start, plus Nagi Assay Kits sold as one box per experiment.
- Take the training delivered at experiment launch, covering the instrument, data logging and parameter setup.
- Design the experiment in the guided interface, using the SydLab One manual v.2.3.2, the experiment design GUI guide, the worm and bacteria preparation instructions and the calculation tool in the Nagi Users Hub, which requires an account.
- Load the chips, start the run and follow progress in real time while automated imaging and cloud analysis proceed.
- Select the assay module matching your endpoint: Nagi C-Age, Nagi B-Age, Nagi DART, Toxicity Profiling, Lifespan and Healthspan, or Fluo-Based Assays.
- Contract research route: agree the scope in an initial discussion, ship your compounds or samples, let Nagi's scientists run the study, then receive a detailed report and discuss the results.
- Add complementary readouts where relevant: Seahorse OCR mitochondrial respiration, high-resolution confocal imaging, or gene expression profiling by qPCR or RNA-seq.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Throughput that is unusual for in vivo work: over 1,000 organisms and 64 independent conditions in a single run
- Seven days average time to result, ten days for biological age with Nagi B-Age and five days for DART endpoints, with a claimed speed-up of up to forty times over vertebrate testing
- End-to-end automation, with no prior C. elegans expertise required and training provided at launch
- Reproducibility: automated deep-learning analysis is presented as delivering user-independent results
- An ethically positioned model aligned with the 3Rs and New Approach Methodologies, outside the regulatory constraints of vertebrate testing
- Mechanistic rather than survival-only readouts, covering five vital traits and mode of action, with reduced reagent and compound consumption
- Solid scientific and financial footing: 30+ publications including in Nature, Nature Medicine and Science Translational Medicine, and over CHF 20 million raised
Cons
- No public price at all, for the platform, the consumables or the contract research services; a quote is mandatory and the full sitemap of 40 URLs holds no pricing page
- A single biological model, C. elegans, with no cell, organoid or rodent option
- A hardware commitment: a benchtop instrument plus recurring consumables in chips and assay kits
- No API and no API documentation published anywhere on the site
- Technical documentation locked behind a customer account in the Nagi Users Hub
- The dedicated SydLab One privacy page is published but empty, so the product has no privacy policy of its own; the website policy never mentions the GDPR, publishes no retention period and lists no subprocessor
- No dedicated support address, since everything goes through a form, no declared interface language and no named data hosting country, while the terms still carry template residue pointing at a third-party agency domain
Pricing & Plans
Nagi Bioscience publishes no price. A check of the full sitemap, 40 URLs, returns no pricing page, and no amount, currency or billing unit is stated for the SydLab One platform, for the consumables or for the contract research services. Commercial engagement runs entirely through a quote, invited by calls to action such as Let's Talk, Book a Demo and Request more information. Three revenue lines can be identified: supply of the SydLab One platform at the customer's site, consumables and reagents (Nagi Chip L1-Sync, Nagi Chip L4-Sync and Nagi Assay Kits), and Contract Research Services performed at Nagi. Contract research add-ons, namely Seahorse OCR analysis, confocal imaging and qPCR or RNA-seq expression profiling, are presented separately and also without figures. No free plan and no free trial are announced; the Discovery Pack is a supervised programme whose price is not published. The only cost statement made is qualitative: the company claims reproducible data at costs comparable to cell-based assays.
- the platform installed in the customer's own laboratory
- with consumables ordered separately. No price published.
- studies run by Nagi's scientists
- covering Aging and Longevity Studies
- Neurodegenerative Studies
- Toxicity Studies
- Compound Efficacy Studies
- Microbiome Studies and Custom Studies. No price published.
- a supervised programme to run your own experiment at Saint-Sulpice
- described through a six-step workflow. No price published.
- Nagi Chip L1-Sync
- Nagi Chip L4-Sync
- Nagi Kit L1-Sync and Nagi Kit L4-Sync. No price published.
Data, GDPR & hosting
A consolidated view of how Nagi Bioscience handles your data.
GDPR overview
The GDPR is never named on the site: neither the acronym nor the full name of the regulation appears in the terms, the privacy policy or the product pages. No Article 27 EU representative and no data protection officer is designated. Nagi Bioscience SA is a Swiss company, and the terms place the agreement under Swiss law with exclusive jurisdiction of the Swiss courts; Switzerland is outside the European Union. The privacy policy nevertheless grants rights that resemble those of the regulation: access to the personal data held, free of charge but with administrative fees possible for repetitive, unfounded or excessive requests, restriction of processing, deletion, correction or update, and withdrawal of marketing consent, all exercised at info@nagibio.ch or by post to the Saint-Sulpice head office. The policy carries no effective date and no version number, and may be replaced by publishing a new version without guaranteed notification.
Who owns the data?
The published documents only settle ownership of content submitted to the website. Section 5 of the terms and conditions grants Nagi Bioscience a worldwide, irrevocable, non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to use, reproduce, adapt, publish, translate and distribute user content, in any existing or future media. Nothing comparable is published for experimental data: no clause covers it in the terms, and the dedicated SydLab One privacy page is empty. For contract research, Nagi commits to handling samples and compounds with the utmost care, precision and confidentiality, but no written ownership clause accompanies that commitment. The contracting party is Nagi Bioscience SA, Saint-Sulpice, Switzerland; ownership of study data has to be settled contractually.
Reuse rights
The terms and conditions say nothing about an end user reusing data, and the privacy policy covers the website only. Section 1 lists what is collected: IP address, geolocation, browser and operating system, referral source, visit duration, pages viewed and navigation paths, transaction data, newsletter subscription details, and anything else volunteered. Section 3 states these serve to administer and personalise the site, enable its services, issue invoices and collect payments, communicate with past customers and prospects, send non-marketing commercial messages and requested notifications, supply anonymised statistics to third parties, and handle complaints. Personal information is not passed to third parties for direct marketing without express consent. Section 4 allows disclosure to employees, agents, suppliers and subcontractors, and under a legal obligation, court proceedings or a business transfer. Google Analytics is used, with session and persistent cookies. The SydLab One Software Suite itself sets essential cookies only, including a first-party SLSID session cookie for authentication and authorisation. Nothing is published about how Nagi uses customer experimental data.
Data retention & training
Hosting summary
Nagi Bioscience publishes very little about hosting. The home page confirms cloud processing, with real-time image transfer, segmentation and analysis on the Cloud, but names no provider, no country and no region for the experimental data. There is no trust or security page anywhere on the site, and no certification such as SOC 2 or ISO is claimed. The only jurisdictional anchor is corporate and contractual: Nagi Bioscience SA is registered in Saint-Sulpice, Switzerland, and the terms and conditions apply Swiss law with exclusive jurisdiction of the Swiss courts. For reference, the marketing website itself resolves to 185.132.40.101, an IONOS SE address in autonomous system AS8560 located in London, United Kingdom, which concerns the public site only and says nothing about where study images or results are stored. Buyers with data residency requirements will have to obtain hosting locations, subprocessor identities and retention terms directly from the company.
Things to keep in mind
Risks and trade-offs to weigh before adopting Nagi Bioscience.
- No price is published anywhere, so no budget can be estimated without entering a sales process, and the total cost of ownership includes recurring consumables, not only the instrument.
- The dedicated SydLab One privacy policy page is published but entirely empty, so the product has no privacy terms you can read before signing.
- The terms and conditions carry template residue from a third-party agency: the privacy and cookies policy links in sections 1 and 14 point to sciad.com, and the mailto in section 16 targets info@sciad.com while the displayed address is info@nagibio.ch.
- The privacy policy never names the GDPR, gives no retention period and publishes no subprocessor list, inviting you to get in touch instead; it is neither dated nor versioned and can be changed by simply publishing a new version, without guaranteed notice.
- Image data is transferred and analysed on the Cloud with no hosting country or region named, a point worth settling contractually if your compounds or study designs are confidential.
- Reported traction is inconsistent between pages, with 20 teams in 10 countries on the technology and services pages against 25+ teams worldwide on the home page; the footer copyright still reads 2025, and the US location is given as Boston, Massachusetts, with no street address.
- Automated deep-learning phenotyping invites over-trust: results come from a single invertebrate model whose translational value to humans is claimed by the vendor, and the biomarkers behind the biological age score are proprietary, so the reasoning behind a readout cannot be independently audited.
Setup & Integrations
Technical difficulty
Moderate, and physical rather than digital. There is no online sign-up: SydLab One is a benchtop instrument to be installed in the laboratory alongside its consumables. Nagi describes the workflow as end-to-end automated, accessible to expert and non-expert users, with no prior C. elegans expertise required. Chips connect plug-and-play, the interface guides experiment design through to data analysis, and training is delivered at launch. Documentation (user manual v.2.3.2, design GUI guide, worm and bacteria preparation instructions, calculation tool) sits behind the Nagi Users Hub. Contract research removes setup entirely.
Deployment
Behind Nagi Bioscience
Fundraising
Social
Resources
All the official URLs gathered for verification and reference.
Frequently asked questions
What exactly is SydLab One?
Where does the AI actually sit in the workflow?
How many organisms and conditions does one run cover?
How long does it take to get results?
Do we need prior C. elegans experience?
Can we try the platform before buying it?
Do we have to buy the instrument at all?
What does it cost?
Is there an API?
Who is behind SydLab One, and under which law does it operate?
Should you pick Nagi Bioscience?
SydLab One is a niche instrument, a long way from general-purpose software: a benchtop machine plus consumables, wrapped in an AI analysis layer. The AI is real and central, with deep learning on the images and an algorithmic biological age, but it serves a pipeline of experimental biology rather than standing on its own. What you buy, or commission, is a way to run in vivo studies on C. elegans at a throughput manual worm work cannot reach: 64 independent conditions, over 1,000 organisms, roughly seven days to result, and readouts on lifespan, healthspan, biological age and reproductive toxicity.
Commercial maturity is reasonable for the category. The platform launched at the end of Q1 2023, around 20 teams in 10 countries use it, more than 30 publications back the science, and a CHF 12.4 million Series A closed in 2023. The founders are credible: the inventor of the microfluidic technology and a C. elegans aging biologist.
Two points deserve scrutiny before committing. First, pricing is entirely opaque. Nothing is published for the instrument, the consumables or the contract research, so no budget can be framed without a sales conversation, and product documentation sits behind a customer account, making independent evaluation impossible. Second, the legal paperwork is light for a Swiss B2B supplier: the GDPR is never named, no retention period is published, no subprocessor is listed, the product privacy page is published but empty, and the terms still carry template residue pointing at a third-party agency.
The right audience is clear: longevity, toxicology, nutraceutical and academic teams that already know they want invertebrate in vivo data. For them, the Discovery Pack or the contract research route is the sensible way in. Everyone else should settle price and data terms in writing first.
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